Hi! I was trying to use Calibre to manage my audiobooks as well as ebooks by manually copying the folder with audio files to the book directory. I'm quite sure that at least once, when I was fetching metadata from the server (and the author name changed slightly), Calibre removed the directory with my audio files. Is this possible? Is it a dangerous way to store my audiobooks?

Hi! I was trying to use Calibre to manage my audiobooks as well as ebooks by manually copying the folder with audio files to the book directory. I'm quite sure that at least once, when I was fetching metadata from the server (and the author name changed slightly), Calibre removed the directory with my audio files. Is this possible? Is it a dangerous way to store my audiobooks?

From what I understand you copied the audio version of the book into the corresponding directory in the Calibre library, is that right? If so, I'd assume that Calibre wasn't aware the audiobook was even there. If you change the metadata, Calibre changes the directory, and, it would seem, copies the files it's aware of to the new directory and just deletes everything else.
So, yes, unless you manage to add your audiobooks via the normal Calibre interface, this would be a dangerous way to store them.
As said before, by the way, the Calibre library is best seen as a "black box" and only interfaced via Calibre itself.

Hi! I was trying to use Calibre to manage my audiobooks as well as ebooks by manually copying the folder with audio files to the book directory. I'm quite sure that at least once, when I was fetching metadata from the server (and the author name changed slightly), Calibre removed the directory with my audio files. Is this possible? Is it a dangerous way to store my audiobooks?

As Manichean correctly said, this is a bad way to store your audiobooks. Calibre won't know about them, and will change its directories and move files if you change author/title. You shouldn't go into the folders that Calibre maintains.

If you want your audiobooks stored by Calibre, put the mp3s into a rar file, then add the rar file to the record for that book. Edit the metadata for that book and drag in the rar file. Then Calibre will know about the rar file and will keep it with your other ebook formats for that book.

If you want your audiobooks stored by Calibre, put the mp3s into a rar file, then add the rar file to the record for that book. Edit the metadata for that book and drag in the rar file. Then Calibre will know about the rar file and will keep it with your other ebook formats for that book.

Ok. It's a bit inconvenient to pack-unpack the files (especially for large books), but I guess there is no other way. I opened a ticket with a suggestion to be able to add folders instead of rar files, this would be useful if it is implemented.

At this point, Calibre is designed for ebooks, not audiobooks, so it's not really fair to complain about it being inconvenient. I was just pointing out how you could do it if you really needed to. You might be better off with another program.

That said, however, I do recall other requests for Calibre to handle audiobooks, so support for them may eventually be added. You can add support for them yourself, if you're feeling adventurous. The code is open.

Thanks for the answers. I added my audiobooks as .tar archives to Calibre, and it works quite well. Tar/untar is fast enough, so it works ok even with 1Gb files.

One more question -- once I added the tar archive to ebook entry, is it safe to add/remove something in the tar file? Does Calibre care about size/checksum of the files in the library, or does it only keep track of the file names?